KOHIMA: The Yimkhiung Tribal Council (YTC) has been vehemently opposing the decision of the Indian government to withdraw the Free Movement Regime (FMR) and put up a fence along the Indo-Myanmar border.
The council appealed to the Nagaland Governor to intervene immediately and stop what it terms "an inhuman act" undermining the rights and traditional way of life of the Yimkhiung people.
The Yimkhiung community has existed on both sides of the Indo-Myanmar border for generations and used to cross freely between their ancestral lands.
The YTC has come down in protest against this plan of border fencing as such props up to defeat their historic and cultural rights to this area. The council says that by doing this, age-old kinship bonds would be severed, trade and economic activities would be disrupted, and the way of life of the border indigenous people would be changed fundamentally.
In its representation to the Governor, YTC President Throngso Yimkhiung and General Secretary Laji Luyanba emphasized the community’s birthright to territorial integrity.
They called for the reinstatement of the Free Movement Regime, which has long allowed border communities to travel within 16 kilometers of either side without requiring a visa. According to the YTC, the removal of this system would impose undue hardship on families and villages that have coexisted peacefully for centuries.
The council has further criticized the concept of an “imaginary boundary” dividing their people, arguing that artificial lines drawn by national policies should not override the deep-rooted social and cultural bonds of indigenous communities. They have called on the Nagaland Governor to take immediate steps to prevent the border fencing and protect the rights of the affected populations.
The YTC's appeal is not an isolated position but one that falls within a larger protest against the Indian government's move. The Nagaland State Assembly has also passed a resolution opposing the decision, which is an indication of widespread concern about the consequences of border fencing.
Other civil society groups and tribal organizations in the region have echoed the same sentiments, arguing that such measures would cause unnecessary hardship and deepen tensions among border communities.
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